Summarize

South African race driver Andrew Rackstraw came away frustrated from his second weekend of Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch in England. The Capetonian showed great speed, but it was not to be his weekend.

“It was one of those weekends!” Andrew rued. “I had good pace and we knew we were in for a good run, but a combination of clutch trouble, a bit of bullying and a small mistake on my side turned the weekend around. We arrived here knowing that we’d be on pole for the heat carried over from the previous round, so we were off to a great start.

“Then I went one better with the quickest lap in qualifying, but that’s when it started turning around! I was the tiniest bit outside of track limits on that lap, so that quick time with the tyres at their best was scrubbed. My banker lap was good enough for fourth though, and that’s where we started. 

“The first heat was the make-up race for Donington, so I was on pole. But my clutch was playing up, so my start was not the greatest and I ended up side by side, hit and bullied a bit in Turn 1, and lost a few places. It’s difficult to pass on the tight Brands Indy circuit and the wash off these cars makes it more so, but I put my head down and went for it.

“Still, I was happy to end up top rookie in sixth overall with the fastest rookie lap too. Then my clutch broke off the line of race 2 so was out by turn 1. That left me 14th on the final race grid after all the drama. I was quickly up to eighth, but I had to avoid people going off and slipped back to eleventh. I did manage to make up a place to tenth.

“It was a weekend that could have been, should have been, but wasn’t. “Sure, it was frustrating, but that’s just racing. We have however shown great speed and potential and now we know that we are good for pole positions and race wins,” Andrew concluded. “Now it’s on to Thruxton. Let’s see if we can grab some podiums there!”

Despite his challenges, Andrew still sits a strong second in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB rookie points, and eighth overall in the Pro class. Next round is at Thruxton over the weekend of 8 and 9 June.